Ethical consideration of plato and aristotle: A comparative analysis

Plato's ethical views are greatly influenced by those of Socrates. To Socrates, good life is the life of virtue and virtue is the knowledge of what is good for us. Ethics for Plato is the investigation of eternal and unchanging Forms, whereas Aristotle, though a disciple of Plato, differs from him. Plato is of the opinion that rational side of man aims for knowledge and irrational side for pleasure. He divides our soul into three parts-reason, desire and “spirited element”. As a rational being, man's virtue is in the “knowledge of Good”. Plato illustrates the progress of the mind from the lowest state to knowledge of the Good by comparing the world of appearance to an underground cave. Plato's Forms are intelligible, but not perceptible. Aristotle argues that different kinds of things are called good for different reasons. If the virtue of a sword is what makes it a good sword, the virtue of a man is what makes him a good man. Aristotle makes a more specific list of virtues than Plato. Plato's “Good” belongs to the abstract world, whereas Aristotle is concerned with practical world. Aristotle shows that reason and emotion play an important role in moral judgment. What I find, while comparing the ethical consideration of Plato and Aristotle, that Aristotle’ s view is more practical than that of Plato. In some cases, their views are similar, but not identical.